If you think your train is bursting at the seams, spare a thought for commuters on the 07.44 from Henley-on-Thames to London – it is officially the most overcrowded service in England and Wales.

In a damning league table, it is revealed that the First Great Western service from Oxfordshire squeezes in nearly double the number of passengers it is designed to carry.

The Government figures also revealed that more than 100,000 London-bound rail commuters – a fifth of the total – now have to stand at the busiest times of the morning rush-hour.

Rail Minister Norman Baker said naming
and shaming the worst train companies is designed to spur their bosses
into improving conditions for passengers.

The league table of services in spring
2012 show that the 07.44 Henley-on-Thames to Paddington service carried
415 passengers in three carriages designed to carry 225 people, making
the train 84 per cent ‘in excess of capacity’.

RELATED ARTICLES

Share this article

Share

The figure represented a worsening of
performance from the previous table compiled in spring 2011 when the
same service was 80 per cent overcrowded.

First Great Western also took second
spot with its 07.14 service from Didcot Parkway in Oxfordshire to
Paddington on which 659 passengers were crammed into seven carriages
designed for just 381 people, making it 73 per cent overcrowded.

Packed: Latest government figures reveal how passengers are forced to stand on services into most major cities during the 8am-9am peak

On average 25 per cent of passengers stand on trains into London, but it hits 35 per cent on services arriving at Waterloo

Mr Baker said: ‘Climbing on to a very
crowded train is an unpleasant experience and I sympathise with
passengers using these services.

‘I urge train operators to do what
they can. The Department of Transport is working closely with the
industry to ensure this is tackled. We all need to pull together.’

CAN YOU MOVE DOWN A BIT? THE MOST OVER-CROWDED SERVICES

These were the most-crowded routes in autumn 2012:

8:27am Heathrow-London Paddington 65% over capacity

6:13pm London Euston-Birmingham New Street65%over capacity

6:23am Manchester Airport-Middlesbrough 62%over capacity

6:00pm London Waterloo-Portsmouth Harbour 61% over capacity

7:17am Banbury-London Marylebone58%over capacity

6:19am Birmingham Moor St-London Marylebone55%over capacity

7:32am Tattenham Corner-London Bridge54%over capacity

6:15am Portsmouth Harbour-London Waterloo 50%over capacity

7:09am Henley-on-Thames-London Paddington 49%over capacity

7:10am Haslemere-London Waterloo 49%over capacity

Rated as third worst was London
Midland’s 16.48 London Euston to Birmingham New Street service in which
752 passengers were crammed into eight carriages designed to carry 452
passengers.

Richard Hebditch, campaigns director
for the pressure group Campaign For Better Transport, said: ‘Many
commuters are faced with an unacceptable combination of overcrowded
trains and spiralling ticket prices.

The highest passenger levels outside
London in the 2012 statistics were in Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield,
which all had just over 2 per cent more than the trains are designed to
carry in the morning peak and between 1 per cent and 2 per cent in the
afternoon peak.

Overcrowding figures for autumn 2012 are barely much better.

Then the worst service was the 08.27
Heathrow Connect from the airport’s terminals to London Paddington, on
which 786 passengers were squeezed into five carriages designed to carry
476 people.

A spokesman for the Association of
Train Operating Companies said: ‘We recognise that some services remain
crowded and passengers get frustrated when they can’t get a seat, which
is why the rail industry is planning to increase peak time seats into
and out of major cities by almost a third by 2019.’

█ Opponents of the proposed
£42 billion HS2 rail line are like those who objected to motorways in
the 1950s, a transport minister insisted yesterday.

As the Court of Appeal rejected the
latest challenges to the Government’s controversial plans, Simon Burns
said: ‘They were against motorways being built in the late 1950s, early
’60s.